Business law may be among the most diverse areas of legal practice. Business lawyers deal with the host of legal and practical issues that arise in the life cycle of a business: entity selection and formation; corporate finance, from credit agreements to venture capital and private equity; governance structures; agreements among business owners; tax planning; securities regulation; banking law; franchising, distribution and licensing; data protection and cybersecurity; mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures; bankruptcy; succession planning; and many more. Business lawyers also must be familiar with the rules governing industries in which their clients operate, from public utilities to non-profits, from technology to wine, spirits and beer (the focus of our section's newest Committee).

It is the rare private practice or in-house lawyer who does not touch on at least some of these areas, and rarer still is one who can claim expertise in them all. The NYSBA Business Law Section, through its dozen substantive committees and its regular CLE presentations, its NY Business Law Journal, and online communities where questions are answered and issues debated, offers resources that help the busy practitioner with the issues that arise in representing business clients.

Our programs bring experts in each field and federal and state regulators to educate our members. This Wednesday, our Annual Meeting program will cover security issues of importance to all businesses. We will address cyber and data security—the subject of ever-changing regulation by governments here and abroad (viz., NY SHIELD, CCPA, and GDPR)—and also office security to protect employees and premises, and technology and equipment security issues raised by "Bring Your Own Device" policies, cloud storage, and disposal of outdated equipment. Our luncheon speakers will address active threats, an unfortunate but ever-present risk for businesses today. The afternoon will bring presentations by our Banking, M&A, Not-for-Profit Corporations, Bankruptcy, Securities Regulation, Franchise, Distribution & Licensing, and Technology and Venture Law Committees.

Our recent Fall Meeting addressed digital assets and blockchain. Our Spring Meeting topics included food delivery franchises, individual liability for business debts, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation of cryptocurrencies, emerging-growth companies and investment funds, and attorney escrow account ethics issues. Previous programs have covered cybersecurity issues in diverse practice areas and industries—including law firms.

We will partner this Spring with the Connecticut Bar Association in Mystic, Connecticut to offer a program on corporate governance issues for public and private companies. We plan a series of lunchtime webinars on a range of topics we hope will be of broad interest.

In addition to helping business law practitioners with the myriad of issues they face, we also address issues facing the entire profession. Diversity and inclusion, for example, has been a focus of the section's mentoring program and of a program we offered during Black History Month last year (and plan again this February). Our recent reception with the Metropolitan Black Bar Association should lead to joint programs for our collective memberships.

We urge all lawyers with business practices to join us, to share their knowledge and experience, and to benefit from the wide range of programs we offer. We hope to see you at a Business Law Section event soon.

Andre R. Jaglom is a partner of Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt in New York City.